Thessaloniki: The world of tourism is making an “appointment” from today to Philoxenia – Hotelia

With a significant increase in exhibitors, the Philoxenia and Hotelia exhibitions are opening today, Friday, November 10, bringing together a total of 431 entries from the entire spectrum of the tourism industry and marking the start of a “celebration” for Thessaloniki, which will last until November 12. In parallel with the two exhibitions, the Real Estate Expo North is organized for the second time at the International Exhibition Center of Thessaloniki, while on November 10-11 the Skywalker JobFestival takes place in S.K. “Ioannis Vellidis”.

In particular, in Philoxenia the direct participation of exhibitors is 211 and the indirect 90, with the total amounting to 301 exhibitors in stands 13 and 15 and the increase reaching approximately 30% compared to last year’s event. In total, the exhibitor countries at Philoxenia are 17: Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria – which is also the Honored Country – Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Poland, Slovakia, Portugal, Iran, Georgia, Jordan, Luxembourg, the Philippines and Kosovo.

At Hotelia, there are 130 exhibitors (stands 8, 9 and 10), with direct foreign participation from Turkey and indirect from 17 countries. In this event, the increase in exhibitors is 22% compared to last year.

The domestic tourism industry is present across its length and breadth at both events. In particular, the exhibitors of Philoxenia and Hotelia include the Ministry of Tourism, the EOT (which has the two exhibitions under its auspices), tourist destinations, hotels, airlines and shipping companies, travel agencies, construction, technology, furniture, construction, equipment companies and renovation, addressed to the tourism sector from all the Regions of the country and the most important institutional bodies XEE, SETE, HATTA, POX, HAPCO (under whose auspices the exhibition is located).

A notable increase is recorded in the number of direct participations, with more important new appearances by SKYEXPRESS, for the first time, SEAJETS, GRECOTEL, Easy Hotelier and 12 of the 13 Regions of the country, as well as by municipalities from all the tourist areas. In the context of Philoxenia, mainland Greece will also be highlighted as a winter destination through the group participation of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers at stand 13 with the presentation of the MAINLAND GREECE concept.

Philoxenia also presents the Innovative Design Cluster, the first Cooperative Innovation Formation in Greece, which is made up of companies and other entities that operate or incorporate creative design into their activities.

Also, at the level of innovation, modern technological tourism solutions, which have been created by the 13 startups of the CapsuleT Travel & Hospitality Accelerator – an initiative of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels – will be presented at his stand.

The national participations of Philoxenia are the Honored Country, Bulgaria (with the direct participation of the Ministry of Tourism and the head of the mission is the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Zaritza Dinkova and with participations from Varna, Bansko, Sofia and Veliko Tarnovo), Cyprus, Georgia, of Serbia (with participation from Belgrade, Sokobanja and Republika Srpska of Bosnia), Turkey (participation from the Municipality and the Chamber of Commerce of Izmir) and Albania (participation from the Korce region).

The extroversion and internationalization of the two exhibitions are also reflected in the number of foreign trade visitors and the business meetings that will take place in the following days. Specifically, Philoxenia will welcome 101 individual foreign trade visitors (Hosted Buyers) from 34 countries, while Hotelia will welcome 13 individual Hosted Buyers from Greece, Cyprus and Serbia. In addition, a business delegation of 50 people from North Macedonia, as well as delegations from Bulgaria will visit the two exhibitions. The scheduled appointments of hosted buyers with Philoxenia and Hotelia exhibitors will exceed 3,000. Also, two fam trips will be held for Hosted Buyers in collaboration with the Region of Attica and Western Macedonia.

The Philoxenia Forum 2023 is expected to become a pole of attraction for Philoxenia, which on November 11 (Stand 14), under the auspices of the Department of Organizations Management, Marketing & Tourism of DI.PA.E. and sponsored by Fraport Greece, will delve into the most topical issues of tourism internationally with the theme: “Looking for balance: hyper-tourism – circular economy – climate change”.

The wide program of parallel events will unfold on the stages of stands 13 and 14 and will include, among other things, many air ticket raffles and gifts from the exhibitors. Especially, on the occasion of the Honored Country, Zorpidis Travel Services and TIF-HELEXPO are raffling off a trip for two to Sofia for visitors to the exhibition.

Among the many parallel events, the musical tribute with songs by Mikis Theodorakis to poetry by Tasos Livaditis and Nikos Gatsos on Saturday 11 November stands out. The musical tribute is organized by the Mikis Theodorakis Zatounas Museum, TEF-HELEXPO and the Municipality of Gortynia, with the support of the Regional Union of Municipalities of Peloponnese and Sponsored by the companies EDIL, HENGAZ and TILEMATIKI.

Hotelia also has a rich program of parallel events, where the uniqueness and particularities of Greek food, as well as the art of coffee preparation and presentation, shape the creative profile of the All About Gastronomy and All About Cafe sections.

All About Gastronomy, organized by the Chef Stories company, will highlight special tastes, ideas and unique combinations of products from exhibitors and award-winning producers.

The All About Cafe, which will be realized under the supervision of Valantis Lambrianidis, WCE Certified Judge & Coffee Business Consultant of the company Valenio, is dedicated to the art of creating coffee with workshops and with the unique Latte Art ThrowDown Competition with the Major Sponsor Barista’s Gold Nounou and Sponsor of Mechanical Equipment the company Eurogat.

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The Philoxenia-Hotelia exhibitions will be inaugurated on Friday by the Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni.

The Philoxenia Exhibition can be visited by tourism professionals throughout its duration. Public entry is only allowed on Saturday and Sunday.

Entry for the public, as well as for visitors who do not have an invitation, is with a ticket costing 5 euros.

Hours:

Friday 11:00 – 20:00

Saturday 10:00 – 20:00

Sunday 10:00 – 18:00

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